Melissa Errico is spending Christmas at Irish Repertory Theatre in character. The Secret Diary of Mrs. Santa, a holiday cabaret she wrote and stars in, plays the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage December 18–23, 2026, with Billy Stritch at the piano.
The conceit is in the title. Errico plays Santa's wife, and the evening is built from the pages of her private journal, which begins: “Dear Diary, Christmas Eve again. Everyone gets a gift. I get an empty bed.” From there come tales of romance, life at the North Pole and a flirtation with the head elf, and the songs grow out of those entries. Seasonal standards such as The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I'll Be Home for Christmas and Sleigh Ride sit alongside Broadway numbers, Hanukkah in Santa Monica and a set of Sondheim parodies, played on the piano Stephen Sondheim gave to Irish Rep.
Billy Stritch, the Grammy-winning pianist whose collaborators have included Liza Minnelli and Tony Bennett, is also the music director, and David Finck plays jazz bass. Eric Winterling designs the costumes, and Lee Roy Reams and Irish Rep's producing artistic director Ciarán O'Reilly are creative consultants.
New York is not the show's first stop. It toured last winter, from Pennsylvania out to Los Angeles, with dates at Bucks County Playhouse, Mercyhurst and the Parker Jazz Club. For Errico, a Tony nominee whose stage credits include Finian's Rainbow, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Candida, Major Barbara and, most recently, Dear Liar, it is a return to a company she has worked with many times.
The run also marks a release. Her new holiday album, Father Christmas: A Holiday Keepsake, comes out on December 18, the show's first night. Her father, the pianist Michael Errico, 87, joins her on The Christmas Song, White Christmas and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and plays Silent Night on his own. The record also carries original music by Andy Ezrin and a new song by Andrew Lippa and Adam Gopnik.
The show is suitable for all ages. Tickets are $60–$125 and on sale now from Irish Repertory Theatre, or from the box office on 212-727-2737. The theater is at 132 West 22nd Street.
The rest of Irish Rep's season carries on around it. Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape, directed by O'Reilly, plays the mainstage through December 6, and Conor McPherson's The Good Thief, directed by Justin Waldman and starring Christopher Fitzgerald, is in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre through December 13. The New Works Fall Festival 2026 runs through November 23, and the company's holiday favorite, The Dead, 1904, begins performances on November 21 at the American Irish Historical Society and plays through January 3, 2027.
